"Here, There & Everywhere"
-- 2010
Second annual “Here, There & Everywhere” to benefit Dove House
Key City Public Theatre presents the second annual “Here,
There & Everywhere” benefit on Sun. Mar. 7 at 2:30 p.m.
and Mon. Mar. 8 at 7:00 p.m. at Key City Playhouse, 419
Washington St., Port Townsend. Presenting a series of short
works written by women playwrights near and far, the program is
a fundraiser for the Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Program of
Jefferson County, now called Dove House.
Monologues by writers from Marrowstone Island to Afghanistan and
Australia will highlight the event directed by Mara Lathrop and
Judith Glass Collins, and featuring local actresses Denise
Fleener and Amanda Steurer along with KCPT Artistic Director
Denise Winter and DV/SA Executive Director Cheryl Bozarth.
The program marks International Women’s Day, and is made
possible by a grant from the International Centre for Women
Playwrights. The monologues are followed by a reception with
desserts donated by women-owned local businesses.
“People were so enthusiastic about ‘Here, There & Everywhere’
last year that we wanted to do it again,” comments Winter. “It
comes together so beautifully — new work by international
playwrights, the talent of our local actresses, the support of
local women-owned businesses, and a chance for all of us to
support DV/SA and the essential work that they do.”
“This year, our call for scripts yielded 232 monologues from 163
playwrights in 14 countries,” adds Lathrop. “We read every one
of them with great interest and have selected eight compelling
pieces which address a wide range of topics and express diverse
points of view.”
Area playwrights include Judith Glass Collins of Nordland (“Made
of Glass”) and Ellen West from Portland (“Lexy's Warning”).
Other American writers are Diane Rao Harman, New Concord, Ohio
(“Heather Blue Fate”) and Marjorie Conn, Ocean Grove, New Jersey
(“She Went A-Whaling”).
International playwrights are Berta Hiriart, Mexico (“Looking
for Juana”), Rachel Barnett, United Kingdom (“Turnham Bloody
Green”), Tahmina Popal, Afghanistan (“Shi'a Law”), and Michelle
Wallace, Australia (“Bury Your Goldfish”).
Dove House has been providing a safe haven for victims of
domestic violence and sexual assault in the Port Townsend area
since 1979, and works to create a more peaceful community for
everyone.
The box office and lobby bar will open one hour prior to curtain
time. Suggested minimum donation is $15. Tickets will be
available at the door, or by calling the KCPT offices at
360-379-0195.
Estimated performance time: 1 hour 45 minutes.
"Here, There & Everywhere" awarded one of only five international grants
Launched in 2009, KCPT's newest annual event -- Here, There &
Everywhere -- has received a grant from the International Centre
for Women Playwrights (ICWP) for the second year in a row. This
year, only five grants were awarded internationally. Recipient
theaters are located in New York, Toronto, Boston, Washington
D.C. and Port Townsend. Event organizers Mara Lathrop and
Judith Glasss Collins, both members of ICWP, spearhead the
program again this year but with a twist. KCPT put out a call
for scripts to the international playwrighting community and the
results are in.
163 playwrights from 14 countries (including
Italy, UK, Canada, Israel, Russia, Australia, New Zealand,
Mexico, Afghanistan, Malaysia, India, Romania, Saudi Arabia and
the US), submitted 232 scripts for consideration. Learn
more about the ICWP at
www.womenplaywrights.org.
Featured Playwrights 2010
Rachel
Barnett (Egham, Surrey, United Kingdom) is a
UK-based playwright whose plays have been performed in the UK
and internationally, including in London at The Hampstead
Theatre, the Royal Court, The Arcola Theatre, and The Kings
Head, also at Chichester Festival Theatre, the Hazlitt Theatre
in Maidstone, Manhattan Theatre Source in New York, Live Girls
in Seattle, and Auroville in India.
Judith
Glass Collins (Nordland, WA, USA) is a winner of the
14th Annual Playwrights’ Festival (2010) sponsored by the Key
City Public Theatre in Port Townsend for her one-act play,
Taste. Judith’s one-act play, Veterans’ Day, won the 12th Annual
Playwright’s Festival at KCPT in 2008. Veterans’ Day was also
given a staged reading at the Darien Players Unplugged in
Connecticut, Summer, 2008. In March, 2009, Judith’s ten minute
play – “Of Poisoned Pens and Palates”– was part of last year’s
Here, There & Everywhere.
Marjorie Conn (Ocean Grove, NJ,
USA) made her acting debut
with the late, great Ethyl
Eichelberger as his leading man playing Aegisthus to his
Klytemnestra with her lover, the late, incomparable Katy Dierlam
as Electra. She founded The Provincetown Fringe Festival and was
given an award by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force for
her contributions to gay and lesbian theatre. She also rescues
and is rescued by Greyhound dogs & special needs dogs and cats.
connartists@yahoo.com
Diane
Rao Harman (New Concord, OH, USA) is a playwright,
director, and dramaturg from New Concord, Ohio. She is a member
of the International Centre for Women Playwrights and is
treasurer of the Ohio Theatre Alliance. Other plays include “The
Butterbean Queen of Bowling Green,” “Evening at Eatons,” “Last
Supper,” “Eddie Spaghetti,” and “Testing Power.” Her full-length
play “Sunset; Sunrise” was a semi-finalist in the 2009 Eileen
Heckart Senior Drama Competition.
Berta
Hiriart (Mexico City, Mexico) I have always been
involved
with women and children
issues. So, I work in the theater, the literature and the
coordination of creative workshops, having in mind the conflicts
and achievements of those groups. I began in the theater as an
actress, becoming later a playwright and director of my own
works. But my plays have also been performed by other groups in
different countries. Now, I feel grateful of taking part in this
theatre celebration that shouts: Stop violence against women!
Tahmina
Popal (Kabul, Afghanistan) writes: I was born and
partially raised in Pakistan and then moved to the U.S. and
raised there. From there, as a family, we moved to Dubai and
have now come back to our own country, Afghanistan. I wrote
“Shi’a Law” because it was something, that to this day, I have
no idea how it passed in this government. During a class with my
Professor Lia Gladstone we were asked to write monologues from
different perspectives and these were the ones that I thought
would present the issue well.
Michelle
Wallace (Melbourne, Australia) likes to write 10
minute plays
and has been lucky enough to have several produced in Melbourne, Australia where she lives with her husband and two teenage daughters. Recently her 10 minute play “Wild Things” won best wildcard production at Short & Sweet in Brisbane. Michelle is currently working on a children's novel and more short plays for both children and adults.
Since
2001, Ellen West (Portland, OR,
USA) has had nine plays produced on both coasts and in between,
including two first prize winners in competitions. She was a
semi-finalist in the 2009 Eileen Heckart Drama for Seniors
competition and a finalist in New York's Estrogenius Festival.
In the previous century, she was resident writer for Northwest
Senior Theatre, produced three films on women's issues, and was
a writer-producer for the public television channel, KTWU, in
Topeka Kansas. She has a BA from Wellesley and a Master's from
the U. of Oklahoma.
Read about last year's (2009) event...
Annual women playwrights benefit a success
On March 7 and 8, Key City Public Theatre
celebrated International Women’s Day by presenting its second
annual “Here, There & Everywhere” — a program of monologues by
women playwrights around the world. Through the efforts of many
volunteers and donations from local businesses, the event was a
success. KCPT wants to thank everyone who gave so generously and
helped raise $976 for Dove House.
Co-ordinated by Mara Lathrop and Judith Glass Collins, this
year’s “Here, There & Everywhere” featured two playwrights from
"Here" (the Pacific Northwest), two writers from "There" (across
the United States) and four writers from "Everywhere" (around
the world from Afghanistan to Australia). The plays were chosen
from over 230 scripts submitted, representing 163 playwrights
from 14 countries.
Eight local women-owned businesses also donated food and
services to support the cause, including The 1012 Coffee Bar,
Catered from the Island, Courtyard Café, Holy Hill House B&B,
Livin’ Sunshine, On Common Grounds, Pan d'Amore Bakery, and
Perfect Endings Cupcakes.
Attendance increased from last year’s inaugural
event. The event again received a generous grant from the
International Center for Women Playwrights — one of only five
such grants awarded around the world by ICWP this year.
KCPT Artistic Director Denise Winter commented, “We welcome this
annual opportunity to bring together local talent and local
businesses in supporting Dove House and the essential work that
they do.”
Dove House (formerly known as the Domestic Violence/Sexual
Assault Program of Jefferson County) has been providing a safe
haven for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in the
Port Townsend area since 1979, and works to create a more
peaceful community for everyone.
Event photos by Mark P. Saran.